This picture is in St Augustine, just after we docked at the marina. We were headed toward their landmark Castillo de San Marcos, a 17th century fort/castle made from coquina, a local soft shellrock. It absorbed cannon balls instead of allowing them to damage the walls, so it withstood numerous attacks over the years.
We departed New Smyrna Beach late on Tuesday morning, into a fierce northerly wind. It hasn't stopped yet, although it has turned to an easterly. The scenery along the Waterway has varied, from natural, to high rises in Daytona Beach, to modest homes with private docks, to wide shallow bays. The wind got so strong and cold we had to navigate from downstairs inside the cabin.
Late that afternoon we arrived at one of the only anchorages along that section. It was a short channel off to the side. The book said there was a boat factory on the channel and that boats used it non-stop, so to not anchor right in the middle. Therefore, I did something I'd not done yet on this trip: After anchoring normally in the middle with the wind keeping me mid-channel, I tied a line from the stern of my boat to a tree on the shore! In that way, I could pull the boat to the side, out of the middle, and facing cross-channel and crosswind. I wasn't sure if the anchor would hold, or if the tree would stay put, since the wind was blowing so hard. Fortunately, they both held, and know what? Not one boat ever went by us!
This picture is from the Castillo, looking back toward the bridge. Breaking Away was docked just on the other side of the bridge. That's Rick in the side of the photo. We actually were here once before, in 1968, on a family vacation. All six Mercs drove from Los Angeles to Key West and back again in 15 days. I bought a brochure on the Castillo in 1968 and brought it along on this trip. Funny.
Oftentimes when the town was under siege, the entire population would take refuge inside the Castillo. In 1702, hundreds were jammed in there for 50 days while the British tried to take the fort, but could not.
Rick and Beth in front of one of the sentry towers. We later walked all over the old town and sampled the taverns. Old taverns. Old everything. It was founded in 1565, and they've got the oldest everything in the country.
This is Beth and me in front of Flagler College. Henry Flagler was the railroad baron in the late 19th century who built Florida up for weathly tourists from the north. You see Flagler this and Flagler that, everywhere in Florida. Anyway, in the late 1880s he built three luxurious hotels here. This one was the Ponce de Leon Hotel, the ritziest, but eventually it was converted into a college. I guess that was how Ponce de Leon could finally find his Fountain of Youth - a college!
We had dinner at a brewery, and then "retired' to the boat for Skyping with Janet, and watching Idol. We had plans to move the boat to a nearby anchorage and spend another day in St Augustine, but the manatees called and we headed north this morning.
I know this picture is blurry, but I had to include it to show you what we were treated to when we were about 10 miles north of St Augustine. A bi-plane was doing unbelievable stunts for about 15 minutes, just for us (so it seemed, since it was in the middle of nowhere). It went straight up, as in this picture, and then would just hang there. Then it would twist earthward at high speed and eventually come out of the dive and do more stunts that we could not believe. What a show!
As we cruised farther north, we eventually got to a 10-mile-long cut canal, most of which was lined with homes as seen in this picture. Every single one had its own dock with a boat lifted out of the water.
Not long before this photo, Rick learned how unforgiving the marked channels are in the Waterway. He was driving while I was calling potential marinas for the night, and gradually he drifted too far to the side and we hit bottom! Luckily, we quickly moved into deeper water and all was okay. But boy is it scary when you feel yourself hitting bottom!
It's a good thing we are in that marina in this picture because it continues to REALLY blow hard out there. Rick and I walked to a grocery store on the other side of this bridge in Jacksonville Beach for more supplies, and then we grilled pork chops for dinner!
Tomorrow we'll head 8 miles to the St Johns River in Jacksonville, and then southward on this river that is the longest north-flowing river in the country. There are supposed to be alligators and MAYBE manatees.
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